5 songs you need to hear to celebrate Pride Month

Songs you need to hear is CBC Music's weekly list of hot new Canadian tracks. This week, we're celebrating Pride with new music from 2SLGBTQ+ musicians. 

Scroll down to discover the songs our producers are loving right now.

I've Got Friends in Low Places, Rae Spoon (Garth Brooks cover)

The Garth Brooks classic Friends in Low Places is a family favourite for many, and artist Rae Spoon fondly remembers their uncles playing it loudly while growing up in Calgary. "When I came out as transgender in 2001, I never felt the need to lose my love of country music," Spoon said via press release. "I felt empowered revisiting this song by recording it with a bunch of queer and trans musicians. Right now, being transgender can feel like a low place, but the song reminds us that we just have to find the other people who are also being put there." (And while Brooks has been an outspoken advocate of 2SLGBTQ+ rights, Spoon's reclamation of the song also wrests some power back after the recent sexual assault accusations against him.) Combining the original guitar riff with a symphony of synths and dancing percussion, Spoon creates a magical hybrid meant for the dance floor, letting their country roots shine through a layer of pop shimmer. Fun fact: Spoon's delightful press photos for the single, where they don a bright blue cowboy hat and lavender suit, are in part a nod to Alberta band Lavender Country, widely believed to have released the first (known) gay-themed album in country music. — Holly Gordon

I Just Wanna Know, Kimmortal

On I Just Wanna Know, Vancouver rapper Kimmortal dives into lo-fi, jazzy hip-hop, celebrating resilience and the unique qualities that make them who they are. "I'll receive what's meant for me, I'll never conform," they rap over fluttering beats, sharing a sentiment of self-love that is especially fitting for Pride Month. "I was awakened to the talents of my longtime bandmates who really shaped the song I Just Wanna Know, which I chose to be the lead single — that's keys by Matt Yang, horns by Feven Kidane and arrangement by me and Miles [Wong]," Kimmortal shared in a press release. With the band's contributions, everything flows: the melody is buoyant and summery thanks to the smooth keys and bright, brassy horns, creating a feeling of sun-drenched bliss. And when Kimmortal starts sharing their affirmations ("I'll get everything I dream of and more"), their flow is perfectly relaxed and languid, giving off an air of ease and confidence. The track is smooth and silky, making it a no-brainer to serve as the lead single from their EP, sunniest of days, which is their newest project since 2023's Shoebox. — Natalie Harmsen

Remember, Bambii feat. Ravyn Lenae and Scruffizer

Toronto DJ and producer Bambii just released her second EP, Infinity Club II, last Friday. Its predecessor, Infinity Club, won the Juno Award for electronic album of the year and was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and it's likely this new record will receive similar recognition. Bambii has really honed in on a definitive sound, rooted as much in her Jamaican identity as it is influenced by all the places she's travelled as a touring DJ. That sound has been described as "future dancehall" and "dancehall and bass," but it's much more expansive than that. Take the melodic trance of Mirror, featuring Jessy Lanza and Yaeji, or the unexpected, but perfect, link up between rising R&B singer Ravyn Lenae and grime legend Scrufizzer on Remember. The song opens the album with icy synths, muted horns and a looming bass track as Lenae's haunting vocals set the scene of a dysfunctional situationship: "I don't wanna play your game/ Know it always ends the same." In response to Lenae's reticence, Scrufizzer's verse aims to remind her how good things can be when they share a dance, and the track revs up to a jungle pace in accordance. By the end of the song, it seems Lenae is ready to let herself get swept up again. — Kelsey Adams

When I'm Overcome, Vivek Shraya

When I'm overcome with feeling
I have to break free from words and just sing.

When I'm Overcome is the opening track to Vivek Shraya's upcoming album, New Models (out Oct. 9). Clocking in at under two and a half minutes, the song is brief but impactful; Shraya relies less on words and more on conveying an emotional journey through sound and vocoder-assisted voice, bending and stretching across every moment to take up space. In a statement, Shraya said New Models is "me grappling with the state of the world of the past four years and eventually realizing that language, particularly English, had become so contorted and weaponized that the only way I could grieve, rage, and find comfort was to let go of it." That is especially true on When I'm Overcome, where she speaks to the anxiety of the present and future: "When I look at what is ahead/ I'm undone by all the damage." What follows isn't a literal scream or cry, but Shraya's own sonic synthesis of meditative coos colliding into a bombastic end, leaving listeners with a sense of catharsis that can't really be put into words. — Melody Lau

Wrong Place, Wrong Timing, Vera

Vera is a rising alt-pop artist quickly gaining traction for her ethereal production and refined vocals. On her third single, Wrong Place, Wrong Timing, she leans into a sombre sound while reflecting on a relationship that is seemingly great, but unfortunately no longer clicking — a scary realization, but an honest one. "Sometimes neither partner does anything wrong and you're stuck with this gut-feeling that maybe you're on two different paths," she shared in a press release. "Sonically, I wanted the song to feel as if you were sitting right next to that person while in real-time having the spiraling realization." From the very beginning of the song, that conversational tone is apparent. In the lyrics, Vera references birthdays, party supplies that are going to waste, and the feeling that things really were special at one point. The seed of that realization grows into a powerful and engulfing soundscape. It's hard to believe that such a difficult conversation can sound this good. — Bhaven Moorthy